US Targets Chinese Surveillance as Trade War Becomes Tech War

China and America’s trade war looks more and more like a tech war, and the United States appears to be widening its focus on to another category of Chinese technology: surveillance.

The U.S. may put Chinese surveillance equipment company Hikvision on a blacklist that would limit its ability to acquire American components — expanding the tech rivalry between the countries and even bringing attention to the ways China monitors its own people.

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Hikvision is one of the world’s largest makers of video surveillance products. If Washington goes ahead with the penalties, U.S. firms will be required to obtain a government license to sell equipment to Hikvision, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.